Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Haye and Clark Hsiao.
Hi Jessica and Clark, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We met as students in the photography department at Art Center College of Design, and a few years after graduating, started shooting assignments together. For us, the greatest asset we’ve had in our career, in addition to the work itself, is the community of people we’ve met and gotten to know over the years. From photo editors and directors and former teachers of ours to fellow photographers and creatives, the mutual support between all of these people is invaluable.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the biggest challenges as freelance artists is to keep an eye on your own personal compass and not let clients dictate or rewrite your vision. We were told as students, “always shoot YOUR picture” when on a job, but when you are out there trying to cultivate and maintain that vision while working for other people, it is easy to get a little lost in the woods at times. Ultimately, clients mostly want to see what artists’ own experience and vision can add to the mix, so it’s critical to keep fighting for that.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We generally shoot people and places coming from a documentary point of view. We have a pretty light touch, and even when we create manipulations or interventions in a shot, we don’t tend to set up a huge footprint of gear between ourselves and our subjects. Despite a relatively straightforward approach, our most successful work is a bit open-ended and invites the viewer to bring something of their own story into the experience. Currently, in addition to making personal and assignment work, we are pursuing publishing a book of photographs of our daughter made through her school years. It falls within the tradition of photographers turning their practice toward their own families and bears witness not only to her growing up in front of the camera but also to the evolution of her relationship to her own image over time. We think it will not only make a pretty beautiful book but it may also provide viewers with that spark of self-recognition that we are always looking to create in our work.
How do you think about luck?
There are some well-trodden clichés about the role of luck in success, and they often ring true. From our experience, when we’ve had a stroke of luck (being in the right place and the right time, getting an introduction to someone with a great job we’re right for, etc.), we were also prepared and well-positioned to jump in to make or share our work. We’ve found that luck is more scarce when we’ve been spread too thin or not focused enough on executing our vision to really make things happen. We’ve realized that for us, it comes back to keeping an eye on our own compass and trying not to be too distracted by the inevitable noise.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thecollaborationist.com
- Instagram: @jessicaandclark
Image Credits
Jessica Haye and Clark Hsiao Portrait of Jessica and Clark made by Bela Haye.
